Red like a flame
by Mariss95
Summary: AU prompt: Lifeguard


_AU prompt:__ Lifeguard_

Enough said :)

Hope you guys like it!

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**RED LIKE A FLAME**

He was twenty and on break from college.

Starling was probably the last place he wanted to be at, considering his father would relentlessly try to make him work at their firm. Still Speedy had convinced him to stop by home to hang out for a week before he took off to Ibiza or whatever tropical setting was first in his and Tommy's journey of debauchery of the season. He could never say no to her, so it only took one pleading '_Ollie_' over the phone before he caved in.

Yet he had been on the manor for less than two hours before she said she had to run out to a party.

"Or better yet, you drive me there." Thea beamed by his side, battling her eyelashes at him.

"Okay, but you owe me one for bailing on me now." He argued already picking his keys up and heading to the door where she awaited him.

"Fair enough. How about I play the role of mediator tonight at dinner? Whenever daddy starts talking about you and, say, a job I butt in and nonchalantly change the topic." For a nine year old she sure knew how to handle people.

"Well, you're anything but nonchalant; but I'll take it."

"Yes!" Thea cheered and, grabbing her bag, ran out the door, shouting back at him. "I got dibs on the music!"

"No One Direction, please!" Oliver moaned closing the door behind him. _What had he just signed up for?_

He had no idea.

* * *

"So where exactly is this party?" Oliver cut in, yet Thea kept singing along the catchy tune until it ended before replying.

"Community pool."

"So pool parties are _the_ thing now for nine year olds?"

"Well, Chris is turning ten, but yeah; especially when it's a bizillion degrees outside." Speedy retorted fully serious, drawing a chuckle from him.

He was well aware that kind of genuine laugher from him was few and far between, mostly from his phonecalls or skype calls with the mischief queen at his right. Though he still carried a life of parties and drunken memories, over time it was beginning to leave a bitter taste behind. The allure it once held dulled at seeing his best friends move on, though still enjoying night life like him, but with plans and goals for their lives they were actually pursuing. Him, on the other hand, felt more lost than ever; like going down a downcast spiral which end was nowhere in sight.

He could take the 'easy' way out, as his father like to call it; but there was little ease about going through law school and working beneath him at his firm for the rest of his life. Just the though of it made him want to throw up, even without the need to recall Laurel's never-ending pile of books from _just_ the first year in law school that she'd shown him once.

"Where's your head at?" Speedy's voice brought him back.

"Nowhere." He shrugged off, all the while being more honest than he intended.

"I call bull; that was a loaded look on your face."

He chuckled at the confidence in her words and turned to ruffle her hair as a red stop halted them momentarily. "You're too insightful for just a kid, you know that?"

"I do. It seems I got all the brains _and_ looks in this family."

"You sure do, Speedy." He found himself smiling warmly again.

"When are you gonna stop calling me that? I think ten's a good number."

"I think not, cause you'll always keep chasing me around."

"And you letting me." She finished what was left unsaid, happiness radiating off her at being around her favorite person in the whole world. Most times Oliver wondered how he could be that to her, someone to look up to, when he had no clue what he was doing most of the time. All he knew was that he'd be there for her and do his best to let her know she was loved and thought off; a lesson both his parents had surely skipped when learning how to raise children.

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Before long he was parking by the entrance where a slew of balloons greeted them. Thea jumped from her seat at the sight and, after dropping a quick kiss on his cheek with a cheerful 'thanks Ollie!', darted out of the car and into the party.

He shook his head in return. While leaning over to shut the car door she had left wide open a glint of electric blue caught his attention. There in the back seat laid her bag forgotten, surely filled with sunblock, a towel and a slew of other stuff his sister liked to carry around.

With Thea nowhere in sight he got out of the car, eyes squinting in effort as sunshine blinded with their strength. Pulling out his aviators from the globe compartment and putting them on he locked the car and, blue bag in one hand, stepped into the party.

Countless kids splashed around in the water, others played with water guns running around and, to their left, a group of boys were gathered gawking to something a few yards across from them. Oliver followed their line of sight, thinking that, as he once was a young boy, they surely were ogling girls and, though the thought made him feel uneasy, maybe Thea was one of them. Still what he found was nothing of the kind.

Yes it was a girl; well not girl, but a _woman,_ clad in a red bathing suit that made him question his dislike for one-pieces, delightful curves under tight fabric that made his mouth water. She was standing by the pool and, judging by the whistle that fell over her breasts, where he found his eyes lingering on their own accord, she was the lifeguard.

If only he'd had a female lifeguard in his pool days. Suddenly that fantasy skyrocketed to the first spot in his mind.

Before he could snap out of his red-induced daze the blonde woman spotted him and, much to his surprise, begun walking his way only halting when they were face to face. Well more face to chin, since she was fairly shorter than him, still she carried herself with so much poise and confidence it didn't matter.

She said something he missed, only noticing because he had been too focused on her plump lips to pay attention to the words that were actually leaving them.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said you're not allowed to be in here. No grown-ups allowed past the fence." She repeated, her bubbly voice carrying through clearly now. She sounded apologetic but firm, her fidgeting hands the tell tale of her nerves.

"But you're in here." He let out fully aware of the double meaning of his words, a lopsided grin erupting in his face at the faint blush that took over hers.

"Nice. Still sir I'm gonna ha-"

"Sir? How old do you peg me for?"

"Old enough to belong on _that_ side of the fence." Blue eyes retorted without missing a beat, her mouth tugging up in a smile as he chuckled in return.

"What about your fan base over there? Are they allowed to be close to you but not me?" Oliver argued signaling the bunch of boys in the corner who proceeded to either wave, nod confidently or look away as the lifeguard glanced their way with a smile.

"Oh how I wish I could ban some of them instead." She shared shaking her head before turning her attention back at him. A hand came up to cover her eyes to see him properly once sunshine became too harsh on the sight.

"So are you a good boy or am I gonna to make you?" It took only one moment as he raised his eyebrows in surprise before her face turned crimson red and words started leaving her lips like a storm. "I didn't mean that to sound so dirty. Just please cross the line so you're no longer a distraction."

"I'm a distraction?"

"Well, yes. You're like gargantuan, wearing a barely there white shirt and have a fan base of your own." She added nodding to open gate where a group of teenagers had stopped to ogle at him, surely thinking of a plausible excuse to crash into a kids' party and introduce themselves.

"It's not like I can blame them, you are kind of crazy good looking, like Calvin Klein kind of handsome. Oh my god, I hate my brain sometimes!" She cringed as he burst out laughing in return.

"Just please go your own way before I blurt out something worse. And trust me, that's possible."

Shaking his head he waited until she uncovered those blue eyes she had covered in shame after her last ramble before lifting the almost forgotten bag into her line of sight.

"Just came to drop this off to my sister."

"Great." She bit into her lower lip thankful he looked thoughtfully amused by the way she ran her tongue.

It only a quick look around before he spotted Thea across the pool and signaled where he'd leave the bag on some bench nearby. Speedy nodded in thanks, her default dimply grin widening at seeing his company.

"Now I can go so there are no more distractions." He offered addressing the lifeguard once more, letting her know through his teasing tone that he was more flattered by her words than anything.

"Yeah. Maybe I'll see you around. I mean Thea stops by pretty often lately." She added after seeing their exchange and recognizing the young Queen. "You must be Oliver, right? She's talked about her favorite brother."

"I'm her only brother."

"Yeah, but she's quite a character." The blonde beauty laughed together with him.

"That she is..."

"Felicity." She offered at last, her lovely smile widening as he replayed her name on his tongue.

"I'll be seeing you." Oliver stated after a beat, blue eyes meeting and a silent conversation passing through.

And so he did, dropping Thea off at the pool every day -he was sure Speedy showed interest in going that often after seeing them together that first day, but he never called her out for it-.

Instead he went along and stayed by the allowed side of the fence, over which Felicity would meet him for a chat as she did her job. When Friday came his resolve to leave was non-existent, so he decided on staying for another week.

One week turned into two and then three as he kept delaying his departure, his meetings with Felicity turning from simple chats to full on dates on her off time. Tommy didn't seem so bothered anyway, since Laurel had already joined him -it was no secret they were together more often than not-. Though still hesitant on what he would with his life, Oliver was no longer lost, one more thing keeping him anchored and balanced.

When summer light dimmed, he followed Felicity back to college and, thought still not sure what he'd end up doing, he enrolled in a few classes that spiked his interest, and not only for the fact their timetable mirrored hers. He may not have known much about his future, only that it was with her.

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Thanks for reading! As always, encouragement or constructive criticism is greatly appreciated :)


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